Germany Travel Answers

If you go to the German railways site you can look up for yourself how frequent train service is, how long it takes and what the costs are, even for your trip to Prague. So surf to: www.bahn.de One remark: Potsdam is so close to Berlin that I'd stay three nights there, and do Potsdam as a day trip from there.

First: the good, free railway maps from Bükkes are a must to study! Therey are free, just download and look: bueker.net/trainspotting/map... Germany is here: bueker.net/trainspotting/map... Second: the itinerary is extremely complex and will cost you a fortune if you buy either point-to-point ticket or any railpass. Fortunately there is a third kind of ticket called "CITY-STAR". It is available in Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. I strongly suggest to buy the ticket at Wasteels office in Budapest: they work "by hand" and even as Hungarian CITY-STAR tickets are somewhat more expensive than Slovak or Czech, the choice of the route is entirely yours. Ask for Ms. Monika Bába (or other "pros"), you will pay a mere 43095 HUF for entire rail wenture (except Praha, which is a different journay). Thus, the best is to fly to Vienna or even better, Budapest instead of Frankfurt; if you can get a good deal on Singapore/Lufthansa codeshare to Budapest, that's perhaps the best. Also keep in mind, there are numerous other deals (Aeroswit flying from BKK, etc.) The rules of the ticket bought in Hungary: - the travel has to begin within 7 days of begin of validity - after finishing your traveling to the final destination (any station in Germany) you have to spend at least one weekend day. The suggested itinerary would be: a) Budapest-Vienna-Salzburg-Bregenz-Lindau-München-Nürnberg-Berlin ("there") b) Berlin-Köln-Heidelberg-Budapest (choose any itinerary you like between Heidelberg and Budapest) Praha would be a separate ticket, a simple Budapest-Praha-Budapest railway ticket is roughly 60 Euro round-trip (cheaper is possible but for first time this is the best).

bahn.de/p/view/international... I would suggest a 7-day in 1 months German Rail Pass. Youth version if you qualify for it of course. A German Rail Pass covers all trains on the route of your itinerary (inside Germany of course). To Prague buy just tickets from the German/Czech border to Prague. Can be done in Nuremberg. And in Prague the same from Prague to the Czech/German border. If you arrive not extremly late in the night in Frankfurt I would recommend to travel directly to Heidelberg (50 min). Add this one day more to Berlin (here 2 days is really tight). For Potsdam you just need a day ticket zones "Berlin ABC" (EUR 6,30). DB timetable reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/qu... From: FRA airport To: Heidelberg To: Fuessen To: Munich (or just "M") To: Nuremberg (or just "N") To: Prague To: Berlin (or just "B") The DB timetable covers ALL public transport inside Germany. Besides the trains also U-Bahn (metro), trams and buses. If you switch to the "advanced search" modus you can even search for connections to any address inside Germany. Outside Germany it covers "only" the trains (in Europe).

> Outside Germany it covers "only" the trains (in Europe). And even some in Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and even North Korea. I found, there is a provision to watch trains almost in real-time everywhere. But in most cases it's not implemented yet. Also not every train running in C.I.S., Balkans and Spain is there, but things are improving. :-) Back to the question railpass - or - not: the railpass has an advantage that it can be bought easier. The disadvantage is the limited number of days. I feel, the above venture is pretty extensive, so not sure, raipass is a good solution. I am also thinking, since City-Star is independent of distance a good solution would be to buy it with Schöna(GR) as end-point via Berlin. That way the Berlin-Dresden-Schöna is covered for free and all is need to visit Praha is a cheap Decin-Praha roundtrip. It is also much faster than to go from Budapest. Thus, the "revised" City-Star: a) Budapest-Vienna-Salzburg-Bregenz-Lindau-München-Nürnberg-Berlin-Dresden-Schöna(GR) ("there") b) Schöna(GR)-Dresden-Berlin-Köln-Heidelberg-Budapest (choose any itinerary you like between Heidelberg and Budapest) c) Schöna(GR)-Decin "over-the-border" ticket, the r/t pice is a "mighty" 2.60 Euro and it can be bought in Hungary at Wasteels office. additional ticket from conductor: Decin-Praha r/t under 15.20 Euro. He can easily use any Eurocity between Berlin and Praha this way. Bonus: if desired, visiting Dresden for free is also possible.

Thanks for the reply. Is there a different train system within Berlin and Bavaria compared to say the train between Heidelberg and Munich? What is the price comparison like?

Most large cities have extensive S-Bahn (usually you can use international rail tickets on S-Bahn if you go in the correct direction) and some have U-Bahn (like metro, usually train tickets are not valid on U-Bahn). The prices vary but are comparable with the prices in other metropolitan areas. These S-Bahn are basically suburban trains. The long-distance trains (Heidelberg-Munich) are offering much higher comfort and are usually faster. In some countries you may need to have a seat reservation (1-10 Euro extra to the ticket) on "better" trains. There are also night trains with sleeping cars. Some trains have special freight cars attached so the passengers can load their vechicles on these cars rather drive. Such trains exist in both moderate-income contries (Czech Republic, Russia, etc.) and high-income countries (Germany, France) so everyone who is lazy to drive long distance should ask about these trains. Even in Germany or France the costs of this service are very modest compared with what Amtrak asks for "Autotrain". In Germany a good percentage of daytime and few night-time long-distance trains are ICE (Intercity Express) "bullet" trains. The surcharge to a CITY-STAR ticket to use such trains is minimal (if I remember correct, 30 Euro) and it's worth it. Many trains have dining cars. The dining cars of Central/South/East European companies tend to have own cooks who work at the spot. Useage of microwave is very typical for the dining cars of "West" European companies... even French. French and Italian dining cars of Eurocity/Intercity-style trains lost much of their former fame. Again compared with Amtrak, the diner in Europe is usually somewhat or significantly cheaper.

I just went to a travel agent. He recommended that I buy a 10 day Bahn pass. An adult 2nd class 10-day pass would cost about 289 euros. This would cover the trip between major cities, as well as within cities like Berlin or Munich. May I know if this is cheap? Are there any cheaper alternatives? Thank you Regards Gerald

I bought yesterday a Railpass in Hungary nicknamed CITY-STAR. It gives me Hungary, Austria and Germany for one month, unlimited days (so it's 30 rail days in 30 days) but I had to put down a certain route. The price was precisely 43095 Forint or ca. 168 Euro. You do the math and decide, a 10 day Bahn pass Germany for 289 Euro is better than a 30-day City-Star covering any route criss-crossing Hungary, Austria and Germany for 168 Euro or not. I bought from a place (Wasteels office Budapest) which has zero interest to sell overpriced railpasses to anyone. Everyone can buy CITY-STAR tickets, but only in Hungary and in person. Credit cards are accepted.

Pictures of my ticket: 1) The cover: img295.imageshack.us/img295/... You see the price as said. The agent forgot to cross the "2 month" validity, she should do it, but no problem. 2) The inside: img167.imageshack.us/img167/... You see the route I did choose BEFORE asking for the ticket: Budapest-Vienna-Salzburg-Munich-Regensburg or Stuttgart-Emmerich (border). I am actually going to Amsterdam, hence the odd "endstation" which is not an endstation but the border point. I am allowed to change the trains as many times I like (unlimited rail days) within the validity of the ticket. 3) The conditions of the fare (in Hungarian) can be seen in an inserted leaflet: img295.imageshack.us/img295/... a) one month validity b) the travel has to begun within 7 days of the first day of validity c) at least a Saturday or Sunday has to be (partly) spent at the destination. If arrival is Sturday, the return can begun immediately.

Pictures of a similar ticket I bought for my friend who lives in Belgrade (the country is called Nan Xi La Fu in Chinese): 1) The cover: img175.imageshack.us/img175/... You see the same price as above. The "2 month validity" is correctly crossed out and "1 month validity" is used. Fine for us, we are going for few days only. 2) The inside: img167.imageshack.us/img167/... You see almost the same route - but indeed, my friend starts in Hungary at Kelebia(Border point), not Budapest. Kelebia (Border) is the entry from Nan Xi La Fu, the opposite station in Nan Xi La Fu is called "Subotica". Despite he travels more than I, the price is the same: it's indeed a railpass, not a regular ticket. I will join him in Budapest. 3) All these tickets felt so cheap, I felt actually guilty. So why not make a donation - and exactly where it's needed??? :-) Indeed, I made a donation in a funny form. The cross-border round-trip tickets between NanXiLaFu and XiongYaLi are extremely cheap, less, than one-way. So I intentionally bought a MORE EXPENSIVE ticket - that way giving the railways of NanXiLaFu a little donation (about2). It's a roud-trip between Subotica(Borderpoint) and Subotica (Station). Subotica(Borderpoint) is of course the same as Kelebia(Borderpoint), since it's a singularity (a virtual point, exactly at the border), but the border station is a few kilometers away from that point. There is normally no conductor and NanXiLaFu conductors are known to be very relaxed. Still, why not donate a litte? img295.imageshack.us/img295/... Inside the same ticket looks like this: img295.imageshack.us/img295/... Anyway, "dole koka, pizza, zhivela gibanica!!!" :-)

> Is there a different train system within Berlin and Bavaria compared to say the train between Heidelberg and Munich? There are differences between far distance trains (which are to 99,9% run by DB (German Rail) and local public transport. Local public transport is mostly organized by a regional transport authority (Verkehrsverbund). E.g. Berlin, Potsdam: BVG bvg.de/index.php/en/Bvg/Star... Munich, Dachau: MVV mvv-muenchen.de/en/index.htm... Inside such a network you buy zone-to-zone tickets with the price depending on the number of zones. These tickets do cover all type of local public transport: + regional trains: (RB,RE and IRE trains run by DB and nearly all other trains run by private railway companies) + S-Bahn trains - U-Bahn (metro) - trams - buses and in some places (e.g. Berlin) also ferries The two positions with "+" are also covered by a rail pass. The others not. When travelling inside such a network a railpass maybe OK on the arrival or departure day if you can reach your destination by train or S-Bahn. But not on the days between. Day tickets will be cheaper than a railpass day and cover also U-Bahn, trams and buses. > What is the price comparison like? There is none. Far distance trains are nearly exclusivly offered by DB only. And the above explained local public transport network tariffs apply for all types of public transport independently which company operates them (DB or municpal companies or private ones). > recommended that I buy a 10 day Bahn pass. Why a 10 days pass? You have only 7 travel days in Germany. Thus you won't need any further pass days. The German Rail Passes are flexi passes, you buy x travel days in the period of 1 month. No requirement that these x days are consecutive days.